With just five starters who are juniors or seniors, a below-.500 record and some subpar showings against the better teams, it's been easy to label this a rebuilding year for the Portsmouth High School girls lacrosse team.

It's a label the Clippers would very much like to change over the next few weeks, starting on Monday.

Portsmouth (5-6) didn't spend much time patting itself on the back after Friday evening's 18-5 win over Timberlane. Lizzy Rice scored five goals, Casey McDevitt and Gilly Cole added four apiece, and playing time was heavy all the way through the roster.

Focus quickly shifted to Monday's game at undefeated Bishop Guertin and on making a better showing against a perennial Division II contender that beat them, 18-8, last month.

"We're excited," said Rice. "Right now we're trying to compete. I think we absolutely can compete and be successful against them if we play smart. We have the potential to do that."

Against the overmatched Owls (2-7), the Clippers put particular emphasis on clearing the ball out of their own end and building possessions.

"Seeing how it could open the field up because that's been a problem for us," said Portsmouth coach Mary Squire. "Our struggle right now is ball movement through the midfield and the neutral area."

The first time against BG, the Clippers couldn't keep the score close because they couldn't possess the ball enough.

"We spent all April break working at double sessions every day," said Rice. "We were really trying to iron out our clear, which we were working on a lot today.

"Even the basics, catching and throwing, at the beginning of the season we were struggling with that. We've worked really hard on that, especially since we have such a young team and we haven't all played together."

The Clippers opened Friday's game by scoring four times in the first 2:29, winning every face-off and cashing in after rushes downfield. McDevitt, Rice, Cole and Michaela Sulley all found the net.

The Owls got one back four minutes in from Erin Sullivan, but McDevitt's third goal of the game with 11 minutes left in the half upped the margin to 10 and kicked in the running-time rule, at least for the next five minutes before the Owls scored back-to-back goals to send the game to halftime at 12-3.

The game went to running time for good once McDevitt scored eight minutes into the second half to make it 14-4.

"We were able to accomplish a lot of the stuff we've been working very hard on in practice," said Cole, a sophomore. "I'm proud of how we played today."

Coming on the heels of a second Division II title in three years, the Clippers' 5-6 record falls somewhere between expected — most of last year's top players graduated, including Devon Parker, who's playing at Division I power Syracuse, and the program's all-time leading scorer, Emily Whitney — and underachievement.

"I think we could be in a better spot right now," said Squire. "That's something we talk about. We try to get them to appreciate there's a lot more out there ahead of us."

The game at BG Monday kicks off a stretch against the iron. The Clippers will visit last year's runner-up Hanover (6-2) on Friday and Division I power Souhegan (8-2) a week from Monday.

It will be a far cry from the competition they faced Friday. But they're eager to prove their first go-round against the top teams isn't going to be their identity this season.

"We've improved a lot but we haven't reached our full potential," said Cole. "I think we can definitely stay in against that competition."